


What the River Brought

by AndyAstral



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bandit AU, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:48:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25630825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndyAstral/pseuds/AndyAstral
Summary: 7 years ago Qrow stole his nieces away to protect them, ran away from his life and friends to rejoin his sister in the Branwen Tribe.7 years passed, and Qrow fishes a man out of the river.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I ACCIDENTLY POSTED A WIP SO HERE YOU GO
> 
> Short chapter because it wasnt complete and the post and preview button are right next to each other.

Qrow swore as he pulled at the fishing net. He hated his turn at fishing, but fair was fair. At least with fishing at the stream, it was less luck-based, and more letting the fish fall into the net and hoping that nothing fucks up for him, like a sharp stone tearing through the net.

He didn't want to come back empty handed. Fall was going to end soon, and soon they would be moving somewhere deeper so they would be safe from other tribes. Each winter Raven always brought up that _they_ shouldn't be the ones defending from raids, because they were stronger then they have ever been and each year Qrow would glare harshly. She knew they couldn't give anyone more of a reason to come after them, and raiding would have bounties on their heads.

Not that there wasn't bounties on their heads. Tai had left Raven alone in his bid of vengance, but Qrow still had a small fortune for his capture and safe return of the two girls, but it was futile. No one had been stupid enough to try and collect the bounty in years.

Ruby sat perched in a tree near perfect to look out. He hadn’t expected her to be a good lookout for him to begin with, but as time went on he came to realize she had a very sharp eye. The ten-year-old already had an interest in sniping, and to stop her sneaking off to go touch and play with Harbinger he had begun to teach her the more simple art of mechanical engineering. The girl was simply put it, a genius.

He still didn't regret it. The 7 years had seemed to flick by without so much as a blink. They were well protected by the forests and terrain. It was a life still filled with strife and danger, but he preferred this then leaving the girls in Tai's care. He still remembered that night, and a chill that wasn't the river soaking into his calves set into him.

He had carried them back after taking the Grimm out. Tai had the decency to look ashamed, regretful, fretting over the girls. Ruby hadn't recognised the danger. Yang hadn't said anything since Qrow appeared. Qrow tucked them into bed, staying with yang until she fell into a fitful sleep. Tired, he made his way back downstairs. He was too emotionally drained to even be mad at Tai for letting the girls out of his sight.

He found Tai at the kitchen table, having gotten into Qrow's old stash. He could smell it from a room away.

"Uncle Qrow! There is a man in the water!" Ruby exclaimed from her perch, tearing him away from the memories.

His heart lunged, twisting around and looking to where she was pointed. 

"Go back to camp. Now!" He snapped. With a blink, she was gone. He didn’t want her to look too closely at the body. Water lodged corpses were not for the faint of heart, and that was something a ten year old shouldn’t have burned into their mind.

He ran up the riverside, abandoning his net completely.

The man was draped against a log and it drifted. He wasn’t sure how he managed to hold on- And in the middle of his thought, the man slipped from the log and under the surface.

Cursing himself, he dived into the cold water, his eyes opened to blurs, and saw a shape sinking like a stone. He propelled himself downwards, grabbing for it and bringing them back to the surface, thankful that his luck didn't have him miss the man, because he wasn't sure the stranger could survive.

The man was dead weight, he swam them back to shore, dragging the man out of the water. He was bulkier, his ripped shirt showed of taut musles and scared skin from what looked to be claw marks. A huntsman, he had to be, or he owned a really large and cranky cat.

Finding the man's pulse had been difficult, nothing on his wrist, and he couldn't feel his breath when he came down with his ear, but he felt a heartbeat through his chest. There was a pulse, he slapped the man's face, and got no response. Swearing the entire time he started CPR, he had to clear his lungs if he had a chance for survival. 

He pressed his lips onto cold blue ones, and near instantaneously the man jolted awake. He sputtered, Qrow quickly helping him to his side as he threw up freshwater and sand.

“I got you bud, what’s your name?” Qrow asked, the man continued to splutter, and Qrow began thumping on the man's back with his fist. 

The red haired man muttered something, and Qrow leaned in closer. “Clo… Clover.”

Was that his name? He rolled him back onto his back, checking him for any injuries. Scrapes from being dragged downstream as he suspected.

"Okay, okay Clover, I’m taking you back to my camp to get you warmed up. Stay with me okay?" He lifted him up, throwing him over his shoulder and quickly made his way back to camp.

It was less then a five minute walk, they never strayed far from a clean water source. Camp was alive with movement. Those coming back from trading with the established villages weren't due back for another few days. He was quickly greeted with his sister.

"That's a big fish, brother. You'll have us fed for a month." She said lightly, but he knew of her disapproval. Her mistrust on outsiders warranted, but at this moment grating.

"Funny, sister." He said dryly, but noticed the first aid kit in her hand and she followed him to the medic tent.

* * *

Clover did not see the charging ursa, but he definitely felt it when it slammed into him, taking him right off the cliff. It was a blur of freshwater and stone. He didn’t remember much, just that he managed to break the surface and gasp for long needed air.

His vision was blurred, but focused as he started up at the shirtless man, dripping wet and with the working part of his brain concluded that he had been rescued by him.

The other, less focused part of his brain couldn’t help but notice how incredibly hot the man was.

His pale, damp skin glittered under the sun. His mouth was moving, seeing to ask him something but he couldn't comprehend his words

You're beautiful. He thought, and slipped back into unconsciousness, feeling like he was floating on ocean waves.

When he woke it was to a tent above him and knitted blankets. He didn't know what to expect. He certainly didn't expect the little girl sitting near the entrance of the tent, concentrating hard on what ever she had in her hands. Dark hair going red at the tips in a braid, her eyes widened. Teal met silver, and in a blink the girl was gone in a wisp of red petals.

Recognition swept into his brain with a mounting horror. Oh no.

Sure he had completed half of his mission. Find the Branwen tribe. Find Qrow Branwen and Raven Branwen and see if the kidnapped girls were safe. But he had no way of contacting anyone in the middle of Anima.

And now that backpack and GPS tracker was somewhere in the miles of river from here from the cliff. If he didnt check in within the week, Ironwood would track his bag and find it somewhere without him. 

He was so fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not dead just real bad at feelingsss

Qrow went to retrieve the net he had abandoned in the river and was surprised to find a strange looking device caught but the hook, and by some miracle didn't rip through the netting because that would have been such an ass to fix.

Pressing a button that released it to its longer form, the hook sharp gave his his first thought,

It was a hunter's weapon. A Harpoon? No- A fishing pole. He had no idea how such a weapon would fare in battle.

It seemed to suit a fencer, someone that moved fast but by the look of it to get out of situations quickly as well. So how the hell did he get swept down the river? Assuming he was familiar with the craft.

... He fished up a man with a fishing pole for a weapon. 

Utterly bewildered, he bagged the weapon and looked for anything else that might belong to the unlucky fisherman. He didn’t look to suit his weapon, those shoulders looking more fit to be swinging around Harbinger then a dainty looking fishing pole.

"And what do you suppose we do with him?" His sister asked him when he returned, walking over to him once she was done talking to a tribeswoman.

"This isn't the first time we've found a hunter." He said. Showing her the weapon. It was unsaid between them that this man would not be getting his weapon back until they made sure he wasn’t a threat to them, and even then, keeping him unarmed was only a boon to them.

“Correction, they found us, and we had to move.” Raven huffed. She had made her displeasure known about cutting and running instead of fighting, but she wouldn’t risk the kids of the tribe, after all, the bounty on her head had lessened after a few years. Becoming a lower priority than her brother. He sometimes brought it up as a point of mocking. “We can't afford to move now. Not with winter on our door. We still need to stock up.”

“So you suppose we keep him hostage until we move?” He asked. It would be the tamest option that he would agree with, coming to the conclusion on his own.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You were thinking about it.” He said, and she grunted in displeasure. It came with being a twin, knowing exactly how they thought, and knowing that they were just as familiar with your mind as you were.

“We can't just let him go.” “I rather not have him prisoner, you know how the kids get when we have to do that.”

"I'll talk to him. I'm better with negotiations."

"You're just saying that cause he's handsome." Came her smug reply.

"Im saying that I'm better at negotiations because the last time you talked to an outsider he was terrified you were going to rip his balls off."

"Nothing wrong with keeping them on their toes." She huffed again, crossing her arms.

"We were trading for wool! They were farmers!" And he was rather glad that the farmers needed their leather, or they would have had to go without the wool for blankets, and with how badly they needed them they couldn’t afford hostilities. 

But he brought his annoyance back. It was in Raven’s nature to be hostile and suspicious of everyone. At least the younger twin wasn’t as hostile. Since joining he might has pushed his way into making sure that Raven didn’t do anything too reckless that would endanger them.

"Mama! Uncle Qrow! The merman is awake!"

He could trust her, at least, to keep the kids in mind when she made decisions now. Her scowl softened, and she crouched down to get lower to the child.

"Thank you, Rosie." She said, putting a hand on the girl’s head. Ruby beamed. Qrow couldn’t help but smile himself at the interaction. "Can you go do a perimeter scan for us? See if there is anyone else in the area?"

"Don't approach them, just look?" Ruby confirmed.

"Right on the lien." She winked at the girl. Ruby disappeared into rose petals again, she got up, turning back to her brother. "Listen, you can admit to me that you're attracted to the limp fish. I know your type."

"Okay so he's… attractive. But I didn't know that when I thought he was a corpse and that's not getting in the way of wanting to make sure he didn't drown. Just let me take care of this."

“Fine.” She said. "But no funny business!"

"Aw, but I'm such a funny man." He grinned.

  
  


\----

Soon after the girl disappeared, his saviour returned, looking a lot dryer and regrettably with a shirt. Shaking his priorities back into place, the side smile that he got from the dark haired man jumbled his thought process once again.

The wanted poster only had pictures from about 8 years ago. The years had been kind to him.

"Clover?" He asked, and Clover's heart leaped into his chest. He tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but found that he was bruised in places that made it hard to breathe. “Easy!” Branwen was at him in moments.

"How do you know my name?" Clover asked, voice hoarse. Did they have his bag? Did they know what he was here for? If so, why was he still alive?

To question him. There was no way they would kill him without an interrogation on every detail they can ring out of him.

"You told me, I don't blame you for not remembering." Qrow chuckled, Clover couldn’t help but stare, taking in each of his features slowly. The way that his carmine eyes perked at the corners with good humour. He was lithe, strong muscles hidden by his loose white shirt. He moved with grace as he approached the makeshift bed. "I fished you out of the river this morning."

"This morning?" He repeated, it felt like he had been asleep for days. The tent around him was so  _ warm _ .

"You've only been out for a couple of hours." He explained, he moved to pull something out of his bag, Clover’s heart raced, A knife? A gun? "Now. Can I check on your wounds to make sure they're healing?"

He stared at the roll of white linen bandages. It finally came to his attention that he had been treated for his injuries. They wouldn’t want him to die, not when... He thought more, his head clearing. He wasn’t tied up, he wasn’t met with hostility. They had no idea who he was or why he was here, meaning they hadn't found his bag of damning evidence.

Clover didn't have much of a choice. He nodded, sitting up, hissing at the sudden pain of moving skin. Qrow was on his knees in an instant, pushing him back down. Clover could feel his breath, and he finally looked away, trying not to feel as embarrassed as he looked with his face going flush.

“We don’t have much in the way of painkillers.” Qrow said in sympathy, if he noticed Clover’s reaction, he kept it to himself. “There is a natural remedy but I had no idea if you would have been allergic or not.”

“I’m allergic to nuts.” Clover said, and it was such a small thing to ask, just that he cared at all. Or maybe he had some form of medical training he didn’t know about? Qrow’s eyebrow quirked up for a moment.

“I guess that’s all nuts, and not specific nuts?”

“All nuts, I can definitely die.”

“That’s okay, I just have to make sure the cooks know not to put anything in that might kill you- we are saving the nuts for winter, you know, they go off slower.”

He nearly frowned at the information given to him. Why was the bandit talking to him at all so casually? This was  _ Qrow Branwen,  _ his reign as one of the strongest hunters on the scene short, but his reputation preceded him by miles. When he joined back up with his tribe, huntsmen and hunteresses alike went to find him. Old friends to talk to him, opportunists to capture him. All concerned for what it meant for Mistral’s countryside now that he had joined his sister.

"Just relax, if we were going to hurt you we would have done so while you were unconscious." Qrow said, Clover didn’t realize he had gone quiet. He was out of his element. He was only supposed to watch and not get too close. He tried to relax, pull the tension from his shoulders, but he was having a damn difficult time doing so because  _ why the fuck was Branwen so pretty? _

Now was the time to play dumb. He was too damn vulnerable.

"You mean you and the girl that was here?" He asked. Qrow frowned slightly.

"Oh right. Unconscious. You're in my tribe's camp, it's more than me and my niece." He replied, undoing part of the bandage. Clover hmmed a groan, and Qrow winced along with him.

“Tribe?”

"Yeah? Don't you know of the tribes that haunt these woods?"

"I'm from Argus. Not really." It wasn't a lie. He was from Argus, but spent nearly half his life in Atlas.

"Argus boy! Did you go to Atlas Academy or Haven? It's a bit of a fifty fifty there." He asked. Clover tried to think quickly. Qrow was fishing for information, absolutely. The friendliness only to bring his guard down.

But he sounded genuinely interested. A lesser man would belive the facade.

"Haven." He said, because if he said Atlas, then he would have to find a reason to say that he wasn't military, when nearly 80 percent of all students funneled into the military soon after graduating.

Qrow had a serious problem with authority, even before he kidnapped his nieces. He needed every scrap of good will he could take.

"You're lucky that you found people that didn't strip your clothes and leave you in the water." Qrow commented.

Clover grimaced. He knew to stay clear of the Loomer tribe that butted heads with the Branwen tribe. 

"Speaking of, what did you lose?" Qrow asked, pressing the bandages back down. His touch was soft, he barely felt the nimble fingers brush against him. It still left his tingling in their wake. "You can't have traveled with nothing."

“My weapon.”

“That's unfortunate, what does it look like?”

He described Kingfisher, knowing that finding it was slim. With a growing dread, he had no way to really defend himself, so even if he did leave, escape, whatever was going to happen, he was a sitting duck. He was good, but not good enough to forgo a weapon.

Qrow nodded. "Well, I'll have our people look for it, for the meantime-"

Raven pushed into the tent. Side by side with her brother, she was more intense. In colour, in gaze, in tone.

“Did you tell him our conditions?” she asked,all business. He tried not to react. of course there would be conditions to being saved. 

"This is my sister, Raven." Qrow sighed. "And no, I haven't gotten to that part."

“I can pay you, but uh, my cards got washed away. Once I get back to a hunters base.” He pushed himself up, ignoring the strain and pushing the hand Qrow had reached out with to push him back. "Um well. Without my weapon, of my supplies I'm a sitting duck, so I'm at your mercy."

"Lien is useless out here. No. That's not what we ment." The twins shared a look. Qrow inhaled, he turned to him and looked down. Their hands were still touching.

“We want you to stay here until we move.” he exhaled, looking a little uncomfortable. Clover was so concentrated on the touch he nearly missed his words.

“Uh… What?”

“We're the Branwen tribe. We have a bit of a reputation, an unwarranted one in recent years but I have a bounty on my head.” Clover was surprised that he came out so cleanly about it.

“What did you do?” His acting was rusty despite the small brush up he did before leaving, because he had been going for something along the lines of bewilderment, not accusatory. Qrow’s eyes sharpened.

“I didnt murder anyone, if that's what you're asking.” No, he didn’t. At least, no one that didn’t deserve it. Clover knew from his briefing that the man had been a spy, and that he had to be extremely careful not to give himself away. If he had thrown them off the scent of his real reason of being there, 

Raven took over, clearly fed up with the pace of the conversation. “We can't afford to move camp right now. We're currently trading with the nearby towns to stock up for winter. If we move now we lose that trade and time to prepare before the cold rolls in. So you're staying put until we're ready to move, whether you like it or not.”

Oh  _ shit _ .

"You just saved my life, I'm grateful. You can drop me off at the nearest hunter station and I can call for a lift home." He said. The longer he stayed, the sooner he would be found out. He had to cut his losses and leave.

The woman glared, her fierce red eyes somehow so cold.

"I don't trust you wouldn't inform every hunter in the area where we are and they come down on our heads. We could fight them off, easily, but we won't recover in time to not only move but build our supplies up." She said. "The tribe comes first. I don't know you. If you're a good man or not. I'm not risking it."

"We're not risking it. If it means anything, I'm sorry. But it would be better for you to stay. You have none of your things, and no weapon." Qrow said. "I promise that while you're with us you'll be protected."

Raven snorted, and Clover saw what looked like she was biting back a smile. 

He didn't like that. These two were keeping things from him. He had to admit it was smart of them to do. They couldn't trust outsiders. And even if they didn’t know it they did have cause of concern.

And it dawned on him, slower than it should have they just pulled good cop bad cop on him.

He couldn't let his guard down with these two. Both were qualified hunters, both worked as spies. Qrow was the priority target, but getting those girls home was his main concern.

He had to adapt. He was lucky, beyond lucky he survived the ursa. The river had washed him to safety and into the arms of-

"Fine." He grumbled. "I'll stay. Not that I have much of a choice."

"Well, you could run off into the night. But you won't get far." Qrow said. "Not because we would chase you, but because this is uncharted lands, good luck getting anywhere before night fall."

"Not that he could walk." Raven mumbled, Clover looked down at his bandaged leg. No splint, but hurt to flex his right calve. The pants leg rolled up to get to the wound.

Could he really wait until the end of winter to be able to go back? Ironwood would worry for him if he went silent. He would send someone to find him.

And then it would be over and he would be found out. He had to be smart about this. He had to get away before a search was sent. He had to convince the twins to allow him to leave. He could still salvage the mission, it just became all the more dangerous.

**Author's Note:**

> Im finally working on this au. I made promises on the discord for smut but lets see how it goes. Rating may change.


End file.
